Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy defended his friend Nathaniel Hackett on Wednesday, one week after new Broncos head coach Sean Payton ripped him.

Payton said Hackett’s effort last season “might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL — it was that bad.” He then predicted that the Jets — where Hackett is now the offensive coordinator — were set up for a disappointing 2023.

He later apologized.

Hackett — who was fired before he could finish his first season as a head coach last year — said Tuesday that he felt Payton broke a coaching code, in which they don’t criticize each other publicly.

“I love ‘Hack,’ everybody knows that — a special person in my life,” Getsy said Wednesday. “He showed me the way. And I’m very grateful for him. I was very happy to see him handle it a great way. I’m proud of his character and the way we handled that yesterday.”

Asked about the coaching code, Getsy said he tries to say the right thing whether the cameras are on or not.

“I try to be man of good character,” he said. “So I try to live my life that way, not just in that particular instance.”

Hackett was the Packers’ offensive coordinator from 2019-21. Getsy was the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2019 and their pass-game coordinator/quarterbacks coach the next two seasons.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers said that Payton needed to “keep my coaches’ names out of his mouth,” saying that Hackett was arguably his favorite coach during his career. Rodgers and Getsy remain close, too.